NAGA Midwest Championship

On September 4th & 5th, the North American Grappling Association (NAGA) returned to the Land of Lincoln for its annual Midwest Grappling Championship at the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois.

The tournament was the second held in the windy city after NAGA visited Chicago earlier this year at the Chicago Championship in April, and faced a dilemma with having too small of a venue to accommodate the large influx of competitors. With both the kids and adults grappling on the same day, it resulted in disaster, with many adults not competing until early evening until late into the night.

At the Midwest Championship, NAGA organizers sought out a much larger venue in the Odeum Expo Center, which boasted more mat space and seating, and a 130,000 square foot facility that could easily hold the attendees. Due to the large number of competitors in the kids and teens divisions, the tournament was split up into two days, with the adults competing on Saturday, and the kids on Sunday.

Advertising itself as “the world’s largest grappling tournaments,” NAGA certainly appeared to live up to its claim. Fourteen competition rings were run at once, with over 20 divisions for the adults.

A few celebrities in the Chicago BJJ community were spotted at the event, including WEC fighters Josh Neer and Jeff Curran, and BJJ standout Carlson Gracie, Jr. Neer defeated Curran to claim the gold in the Men’s No Gi Expert Middle Weight division in their super fight of the afternoon.

Many notable teams from the Chicago area competed, including Gracie Barra, Carlson Gracie, Flo Brasa, and New Breed, among many others. Injuries were kept to a minimum, outside of a few cases that kept the resident medic busy in the afternoon.

Referees did a great job of protecting competitors and keeping track of the matches, and were instrumental in the efficiency with which the tournament was run. Only a few scoring disputes and disqualifications were made.

This time around, NAGA ran an excellent tournament for amateur grapplers to get out and compete. The majority of competitors were ranked purple belt and under, and many were competing for the first time in their careers. After the Chicago Championship debacle in April, the organization was able to adjust and learn from its mistake and come back with a highly successful and well-run tournament that will likely attract more competitors in the future. Congratulations to all who attended!

Cassidee Moser is an aspiring writer from the Chicago area. She is also a self-confessed BJJaddict, competes at jiu-jitsu tournaments regularly, and is currently preparing to test for a blue belt under Jeff Curran. Casidee has written for BJJ Legends, Jiu-Jitsu Magazine since 2010.